Fun, But Double-Faced and In Decline
Pros
Target Corp. is a great place to work. Working in the headquarters is a lot of fun, in and of itself. 1) People are incredibly social, young, and constantly on the go. Teams always have happy hours, team building off-sites, and team lunches. 2) They have a pretty good training program for the majority of positions, where you can learn an incredible amount of knowledge. 3) They foster growth and learning, within your specific role. People are incredibly eager to help each other out, and to learn more about their job itself.
Cons
1) It's a very exclusive culture. The people, though really nice once you get in their circle, are not open to new people. They are very much like the Plastics: mean girls who seem to be nice on the surface, but will turn on you if they had a chance. 2) They don't value cultural differences. Target says that they do, but their minority retention rate is HORRIBLE. People aren't open minded, and they don't like to deviate from their "cookie-cutter" culture. This is incredibly detrimental to creating an inclusive corporate culture. 3) If your manager/mentor/director doesn't like you, you will be "encouraged to explore career options." Movement is impossible; they just give you more titles for the same job/pay-grade. I have seen a lot of people, mostly those who are different from the "cookie-cutter," who were excellent at their job but because their manager didn't like them, they were pushed out of the company. Promotions are largely based on if your boss likes you, not so much on job performance.